John m



(N6 Mbdel.) I J. M. HUGHES.

GAME.

No. 366,318. Patented July 12, 1887.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN M. HUGHES, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

' GAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 366,318, dated July 12, 1887.

Application filed November 5, 1886. Serial No. 218,044.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN M. HUGHES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Apparatus pertaining to a Game which I have devised and named Sphero, of which apparatus the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for games to be played 011 lawns or level fields with balls and mallets; and the objects of my improvements are to provide mechanical devices to hold the balls in certain relative positions, to aid in directing'the attacking ball or balls to serve as guides to the movements of the several players, and, in combination with suitable balls and mallets, to constitute the basis of a new, enjoyable, and healthful game. My new apparatus, without the mallets, is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figurel isa front elevation of that part of the apparatus which I term the target, with its appertaining balls, in positiongand Fig. 2 is a plan of the target, the positions ot the said balls being indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a plan of that part of the apparatus which I term the chute, showing also its correct position relative to the target, (except as to distance from the same,) and by dotted lines its appertaining ball. Fig. 4 is an end view of the chute, looking from the target. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the chute on the line y y, with the position of the balls shown by dotted lines. Figs. 6 and 7 are transverse sections of the target on thelines w w and m m, Fig. 2.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several Views.

In my game sphere Four differently colored balls are used-viz, the blue ball R, the red ball S, the white ball T, and the black ball P.

The target A A is constructed of hard wood or metal, and its dimensions are preferably as follows: Extreme length, fortyinches; width, threeinches; thickness, one-half to one inch, and one end terminates in a white disk, B, six inches in diameter, which has in its center a slight saucer-shaped depression, I), that serves to retain the white ball T in position until struck with a mallet. Fastened on the (N0 model.)

target at R is a small cup, r, preferably of metal or vulcanized caoutchouc, painted blue, and at S is a similar cup, 8, painted red, to hold the balls of corresponding colors. The target is held in position on the lawn by suitable pins or spikes, o '0, attached to or passing through holes in the target and forced into the earth. The chute O, with its handle 0, is about fourteen inches long and six and onehalf inches across its widest part, and is made of hard wood about one-half to one inch thick. It has a projecting flange at either side, ff, to prevent the ball P, when struck from the direction of 0, moving in any course except toward the target. This ball rests in a trian gular-shaped depression, (I. The chute is to be placed at a proper distance, say, twenty feet, from the target,'and is held in position by pins passing through it' or fastened underneath, which pins are not shown in the drawings, but are like those shown attached to the target in Fig. 1.

I do not confine myself to the exact shape of the chute shown, as evidently the form may be somewhat changed or the handle removed without rendering it inapplicable for the purpose stated.

My game sphero is played in accordance with certain printed rules by, preferably, four to eight players, the principals of whom are the so-called Guard, who is stationed at 0 near B, Fig. 2, and the Roller, who stands at O near'l, Fig. 3. The purpose of the game is to compel the Guard to retire by displacing the red ball S from the target by forcing the black ball P against it. This the Roller tries to do by propelling the black ball by a blow with his mallet toward the red ball on the target, while the Guard, striking the white ball T, tries to intercept the black. The duties of the other players and the use of the blue ball are subordinate to the above described main features of the game. The cups 1- and s on the target have other uses than merely retaining the balls of their respective colors, (for example, one of these balls being driven away by concussion of the black ball, the latter may take its place in the cup;) but simple concavities in the material of the target may be substituted for the said cups without departing from my invention.

Having thus described my apparatus, What 2. The chute C, having the flangesff, and 10 I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patthe depression (I, to receive the ball P, as and ent, isfor the purposes shown and described.

1. The target A A, having at one end the disk 13, with the concavity b, and the cups 1" JOHN M. HUGHES. and s, to receive the balls T, R, and S, and having pins or equivalent appurtenances for fast- Witnesses: ening it to the ground, as and for the pur- ADDISON T. REID, poses shown and described. 7 J OHN A. SAUER, J r. 

